INCORPORATING INQUIRY-BASED TEACHING STRATEGIES INTO A LARGE ENTRY-LEVEL GEOSCIENCE COURSE

Discovery-based or inquiry-based learning promotes learning through discovery and encourages students to ask questions, find appropriate materials to answer those questions and communicate the results effectively. The School of Geography and Geology at McMaster University is committed to providing inquiry-based learning opportunities for all students at all levels within its programs.

Students entering programs in the School take an introductory geoscience course - Envir Sc 1G03: Earth and the Environment. This course has an average enrollment of 160 students and is taught as two, one-hour lectures, a one-hour tutorial and a two-hour lab per week. Students are divided into lab groups of 12 to 20 students, each supervised by a teaching assistant. The Earth and Environment course aims to introduce students to factual material regarding the origin, composition, and dynamics of the earth and its surface processes and also to basic inquiry skills including library search skills, field observation and monitoring skills, hypothesis testing and generation skills.

Inquiry-based learning has been incorporated into the course in two ways. First, the 10 laboratory assignments are designed primarily as problem-based learning exercises in which students are required to pose and/or solve problems related to a particular topic. The Level I labs are ideally suited to this type of learning as class sizes are small and the interdisciplinary subject materials lend themselves readily to a problem-solving approach. Second, lectures are organised around a series of questions, and students are encouraged to suggest approaches or solutions to the questions posed in class. This allows the class to see how the question-driven process of inquiry operates.

Incorporating inquiry-based teaching strategies into this Level I course has improved average class grades, increased student satisfaction with the course and increased enrollment in Level II programs offered by the School.